Unravelling Love
by Alex556
Summary: Just a few short stories of Gaara's views and experiences on different types of love I'm open for any suggestions.
1. Chapter 1

Just a few little & long drables focusing on Gaara's experiences and views on different types of love ~ There's no time scale to follow

* * *

Chapter 1 ~ Gentle Hands

With a small sigh, Gaara placed his pen down on the table, moving his chair around to face the circular window from his office that overlooked the village. He was waiting for the arrival of his older sister and nephew. It had been 7 months since his sister Temari had given birth to Shikadai and almost a year since she moved away to stay as a permanent member of the Leaf Village. Gaara had to admit, he did miss her dearly. But of course, as Kazekage and her brother, gave Temari his utmost blessing for her happiness and future. Gaara understood how hard that decision must of been to leave her two younger brothers, to leave her home and her village to start a new life with someone she loved so much that she was willing to eternally part from her old life she once knew. The kind of love that was very foreign and distant to the young redhead. Would he ever feel such profound affection? Gaara had began to think if it was even possible for him to form such a deep rooted bond that was only and permanently shared between him and another soul for as long as they lived? Temari made it look easy.. Who knew there was so many rules when it came to love.

Sure, Gaara had created bonds with his siblings over the years, and of course with his village. All he had to do was show them he was trustworthy and willing to change, willing to be taught how to care. _Simple enough. _This kind of love, demanded a unique sort of intimacy that perhaps Gaara wasn't quite ready for.. Love was an endless mystery. Who knew a four letter word could be so complex to untangle yet often so easy to feel. _Well, for most people anyway.._

There was a knock at his office door. Kankuro. "Come in." Gaara said, turning his chair around.

Kankuro poked his head through the door. "Hey. She's here. It's not even been 5 minutes and that damn thing is already throwing a tantrum." Kankuro sighed. "You coming?"

Gaara nodded, looking down to find himself nervously rubbing his fingers together. He frowned, but looked back up and stood up walking by Kankuro's side down to the living room. "W-what do I say?" Gaara muttered.

Kankuro turned to look at his younger brother, shrugging a shoulder. "Relax, man. Just don't insult the kid." He said, Gaara guessed Kankuro had already done that of course..

As they walked closer, Gaara heard the small cries of his new nephew. Turning to walk into the living room, Gaara saw his sister sat on the sofa, her hair in her usual 4 ponytails, wearing a soft lilac kimono. Gaara had never seen her so at _peace._ Her eyes solemnly focused on the small bundle cradled in a white woollen blanket, as if time no longer existed and the only thing that mattered was her child. The power of a mother's love.

Temari then looked up, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Hey, Gaara. Ready to meet your nephew." Gaara stood there for a few moments longer, Kankuro already sat down on the sofa next to her. Temari thought Gaara might of been a bit nervous.

From the doorway, Gaara could see tufts of black hair, and his sister's teal coloured eyes.

"Gaara?" Said Temari. The redhead blinked a couple of times, then went to sit down on the arm chair, facing Temari.

"He has your eyes." Gaara said. That earned a smile from his sister. "Yeah. Thankfully." She moved a few dark locks away from Shikadai's eyes.

"How long will you be staying?" Gaara asked.

Kankuro scoffed, folding his arms. "Not too long I hope, I mean I'm glad you're here and all sis, but that thing is gonna be waking up every hour of the night."

Temari glared at her younger brother. "This _thing _is your _nephew.._And besides, I was thinking, we could take shifts waking up in the night. There's no way I'm doing all the hard work." Temari also looked at Gaara meaning, _including you._ Kankuro was about to protest, but Temari's face said otherwise.

"It needs.. to feed at night?" Gaara asked, genuinely interest.

His sister nodded. "Normally around about 4-6 months you can start to ween them off their night feeds. Though this one's stubborn as hell." Temari picked up a bottle of warm from the table. "Would you like to hold him, Gaara?"

Gaara's eyes widened slightly, Temari wanted him to hold her child? Gaara couldn't understand why he felt so nervous to simply hold a child. Perhaps to child was far pure to be held by Gaara's blood stained hands from his early years of violence. "I.. I don't know how to."

Temari stood up and bent down next to Gaara, holding the child. "Don't worry. It's easy. Hold him against your chest. Just make sure you support the head and neck with your arm. Slide your hand from his bottom up to support the head so their head is in the crook of your elbow. You can use your free arm to cradle the head." Whilst Temari was instructing Gaara what to do, she helped him place his arms into position.

"There you go." Temari said, pleased. And proud of her little brother.

"Yeah, like a natural." Kankuro perked up.

"You're too heavy handed Kankuro." Came her reply.

Gaara held his nephew firmly, making sure his fingers weren't shaking from nerves. _Breathe. _"He's so small.." He was rather surprised how light Shikadai was. So fragile. Gaara looked into the child's warm eyes, he could feel his chest growing pleasantly warm, his shoulders relaxing more. Gaara couldn't take his eyes away from this delicate soul, innocent and pure. Things would be different for this child, for the better. He would make sure he had a family that cared for him. He would never have to feel alone in this cruel world. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all..Maybe there wasn't that many rules as Gaara thought there would be. That is, until the child began to cry. Startled, Gaara looked around in a sense of unease and panic. Temari placed a reassuring hand on Gaara's shaking shoulder blade.

"Hey, it's okay. Just cradle him. Trust me, it's natural for babies to cry so much."

But Gaara wasn't feeling reassured at the least, so he passed the child back to Temari. Carefully taking Shikadai, she sat back down, placing Shikadai in a sitting position on her lap. "Shh, it's okay. You're just hungry as usual." Temari rolled her eyes, picking up the bottle from the table.

Placing the bottled milk into Shikadai's mouth as his hand held onto it. Temari returned to look at Gaara once more.

Gaara began to speak; "Sorry, I-"

Temari cut him of softly, shaking her head. "You did great, Gaara"

Gaara could see that both Kankuro and Temari's eyes where on him."Please excuse me." As swiftly as Gaara could, he stood up and left the room.

The two siblings simply exchanged a look between each other.

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**~ Night Time ~**

Some unusual noise awoke Gaara from his slumber. Still half alseep, Gaara continued to ignore the foreign sound, perhaps it was an animal outside and would eventually it would go away. But several minutes later, the strange noise did not cease to stop, as if the noise was determined to wake Gaara up. And so he did.

Opening up his eyes, Gaara pulled himself up rubbing his eyes, looking around his room to somehow locate where the sound was coming from. Then the young Kazekage realised what the noise was. It was the cries of a child. Temari did say Shikadai was stubborn as hell. _It must run in the family. _Was it bad that Gaara wished for Temari to wake up now? Considering the child wasn't used to him, he'd only make Shikadai cry even more.

Silently waiting for someone to stop the crying, Gaara began to feel guilty for waiting. How hard could this possibly be? Gaara stood up and began to make his way to Shikadai's new room. Placing a hand on the door knob, Gaara opened the door and walked inside.

It was one of the spare rooms that Kankuro and Gaara had painted the walls a soft green colour, with a white cot and white rocking chair in the corner next to a large window. The full moon's light cascaded across the wooden floor.

There was his nephew, laying on his back, a small light blue comforter held in one tiny hand and the other hand reaching up for the touch of his mother.

Gaara looked down into the cot, then slowly placing his hands in the cot to take hold of the baby. Remembering what Temari taught him, he cradled the small child close to his chest, wrapping the white woollen blanket around him. Gaara stepped in front of the the window, the moonlight falling down onto his nephew.

"It's going to be okay." Gaara spoke softly, gently rocking him in his arms. "I'm sorry I'm not your mother. But I think she needs her rest." He knew Shikadai was too young to understand what he was saying but perhaps it would calm the child down.

"I know you've only just met me, but I promise that you'll never have to feel alone in this world. You'll never have the childhood that I once had." As Gaara continued to rock Shikadai, the cries began to soften. He moved to sit on the rocking chair, pulling of the blanket that was covering the chair and placing it over himself and the baby. If only Temari could see him now.

Gaara suppressed a yawn. "You must get tired crying all the time. Not able to tell anyone what you're feeling..Though I suppose life is rather easy for you right now. Not needing to worry about a thing." Gaara moved a few strands of Shikadai's hair away from his eyes like Temari did." Gaara held Shikadai's hand into his. It wasn't often Gaara was lost for words but this feeling he felt right now was a feeling he couldn't began to describe. Perhaps there were feelings out there that are never suppose to be described using words alone. A feeling of sheer protectiveness, to shield this soul from any form of harm.

"But please go easy on your mother. She's trying her best. And.. I'll try my best too. Kankuro loves you too, but he likes to pretend he doesn't. Don't ask why." And then the crying had stopped completely. Instead it was replaced by sounds that Gaara could only interpret as happy.

Shikadai looked up, a smile forming. Teal coloured eyes wide open, reaching a hand up towards Gaara's face. Gaara moved his face closer towards the child's stretched out hand. Shikadai's soft fingers fluttered over his uncle's forehead, managing to touch his kanji scar. The redhead closed his eyes as he let his now peaceful nephew curiously explore the scar.

"I hope you'll never experience the hardships of what love may bring. But if you ever do.. you'll never have to feel it alone."

And maybe one day Gaara would have a child of his own to love.


	2. Lavender

Chapter 2 ~ Lavender (After the shinobi war)

It was late afternoon when the young Kazekage decided to take a break from the endless depths of paperwork. Being a kage had it perks but this was definitely not one of them. He made he was into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. To be truthful, at first Gaara only used to drink coffee to give a bit more of an energy boost to get him through the days but now he'd began to _enjoy _the taste. Kankuro said because it was an acquired taste but Gaara never understood what he meant by that.

Taking the coffee cup and heading back to his office, Gaara passed the living room only to find his sister sat on the sofa looking at some kind of folder. An expression of peace across her often stoic face.

He didn't want to disturb her, but he was also rather curious to see what his older sister was looking at that made her look so at peace. So Gaara peered in quietly, knocking a couple times on the door frame. Temari looked up from where she was sitting and Gaara could see in more detail of what she was looking at. They looked liked..photos?

"Oh, hey there, Gaara. I see you're taking a break." She said. Gaara nodded.

"What are you looking at?" He said with curiosity. For some reason, that question made Temari smile. She patted her hand down on the empty space of the sofa that was next to her, encouraging Gaara to sit next to her. And so he did.

"It's a photo album. I don't think you've ever seen it before." Temari turned back to the first page.

Gaara gazes was fixated on the first photograph. It was photo of a soft young women with long hazel coloured hair that was held in a elegant braid resting over her shoulder. Her eyes where dark indigo. In her arms she was cradling a small child wrapped in a lilac blanket. A baby with tufts of blonde hair. Temari sat silent as her little brother took in the appearance of their dearly loved mother. Gaara would give anything to see her.

"She's..." Gaara took a moment to figure out the right word. "..beautiful."

"Makes me think what she ever saw in our father." Temari said, a hint of distaste in her voice. Gaara no longer harboured hate for his father, he saw the reasoning why he sealed the tailed-beast inside of him; to protect his village. Gaara decided not to comment on what Temari had said. The next photo was a close up of Temari as a recently born baby. She had chubby cheeks, wide teal coloured eyes and blonde hair that was a bit more lighter than the colour she had now.

"It's amazing.. how small we all once where.." Gaara said, his gaze on the photos still.

"You should see how small you where as a child, Gaara." Temari said with fondness. Gaara knew he was born premature but had never seen a photo of him when he was a baby.

Temari turned to the next page. Now it was a baby photo of Kankuro, with tufts of spiky brown hair and darker coloured eyes. Temari huffed out a low laugh. "I was a much cuter baby, right?"

Gaara wasn't sure how to reply to that..

The next photo was a family photo, without Gaara. His mother's hair was now much shorter, but her indigo coloured eyes and smile where still the same. In her arms was Kankuro nestled into her loving arms. Temari standing next to her, she looked about 3. With her hair in two pigtails, held up by light pink ribbons, wearing a dress that matched the colour of her hair. She was holding onto her mother's hand. Next to Karura, was their father. Dressed in his Kazekage robes and a proud smile on his face, which was rather odd to see. The perfect happy family, until Gaara came along and shattered in to pieces.

A sombre expression came over the young redheads face. Temari had noticed, she tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're in the photo too, you know." She pointed to their mother. Her free hand was placed on her stomach. "See."

"It could of stayed like this, if I was never born." Gaara spoke, eyes on the photo. Temari heart sank low in her chest.

"Gaara, don't be ridiculous." Temari said, her voice was firm but edged with softness. He liked that about Temari, how she was able to balance the firmness of her voice depending on the situation. "You know me and your brother never blamed you for what happened to mother. I mean, how on earth could we?"

Gaara turned away from the photo to face her sister. "What was she like?"

Temari was still very young when their mother had passed away but she still remembered a few details. "She often smelled of lavender. I remember there being lavender flowers on the kitchen window sill. Her favourite colour was yellow, the warmest kind." A warm smile reflected across her face and she reminisced the thoughts about her mother.

"Oh and she liked reading books too. Just like you." She said. It was true, occasionally Gaara would read a book now and then. Temari even once bought Gaara book for his 16th birthday.

Then Temari turned over to the next page. It was a photo of his mother laying down, and in the palm of her hands was Gaara. Comparing his size to his other siblings, it shocked him a bit. So feeble and small, vulnerable and so unaware of the horrors that where to come. His mother held him close, a smile full of relief and joy. Though Gaara was not blind to the pain she was bearing behind them eyes. Gaara carefully placed his fingers on the photo, slowly moving them down over his mother's face. Was it possible to miss someone that you had never met? Life could of been so much more different if she had never died. Temari gave him a few minutes of silence before speaking.

"See, you where so tiny. It's amazing that you even survived." Temari said, then another voice came from the living room door way.

"Yeah. You where one hell of a fighter, little brother. " Kankuro said, arms folded over. He then walked over and sat next to Gaara, looking down at the photos.

"He was a far cuter baby than you ever where, Kankuro." Temari smirked.

"Whatever, sis." Was his reply. "You know what? I think we should get some of these photos framed." Kankuro turned back to the family photo. Yes it did have their father on there and yes he did things they weren't pleased of but at the end of the day, he was still their father after all. Temari smiled at the idea.

"Can I keep the photo of me and mother?" Gaara asked, the word mother always felt like a foreign word on his tongue. Temari flipped back the page and took out the photo, passing it to Gaara.

"You know she always loved you, Gaara." Temari said. Kankuro nodded in agreement.

"I know." Gaara said. A satisfied smile across his face. He knew the truth now, thanks to his father.


End file.
